I need feedback about Somerset Elementary School! URGENT please!

[Anonymous]

Dear All,

We are about purchasing a house in Somerset Elementary School District to specifically send our kids to this school (one will be in grade 3, one in grade 4 and on september 2012 one will go to kindergarten) and I just read this terrible post from a mum who has kids there :

We have two children at Somerset Elementary, and have been with the school for three years now.

While some individual teachers have been just fine, others have been disasters.

Since the school does not have a permanent principal right now (and the previous principal was not very good), there doesn't seem to be anyone around with the authority to solve problems when they arise, or hold the bad teachers accountable for their performance. This is a big deal in this school system (I just discovered, from talking to the current temporary principal) because MCPS leaves all pedagogy decisions -- how to teach -- entirely up to the schools and individual teachers. Therefore, if a particular teacher doesn't know what she's doing, or has any other problem, there doesn't appear to be anything in place for her to fall back on.

Our kindergartener comes home with worksheets where she's required to label shapes as "cylinder" or (I swear to God) "rectangular prism" -- yet the kids in that class have never yet been systematically taught to read, write, or even draw their numbers and letters correctly. Our daughter at times comes home with other children's classwork, so we can see that multiple kids in the class need to be taught these fundamentals, which is just not happening.

We would love to get out of this school, but are stuck until we can sell our house to get out of the area. While we are grateful for the few positive experiences our daughters have had here, we are overall very disappointed with the school.

I really start freaking out and I am wondering if we are about making a HUGE mistake. So please I would love to receive other comments from parents who currently have kids at Somerset Elmentary School. Either on this forum or at this email addres I just created [e-mail]

Many many thanks in advance. I am so worried.

[Anonymous]

OP, try to relax a little bit. If you're really "freaking out" and reconsidering a house purchase simply because of a single negative post on an anonymous message board, that's more than a little excessive. (Maybe you're really unsure about the house itself? Or something else about this move?) Somerset has just about the highest income population and some of the highest test scores and ratings of any public elementary around. But you're always going to find people who are unhappy with any school, both for legitimate reasons and/or otherwise. If you really want to go beyond the almost universally glowing reviews of Somerset, I'd suggest visiting the school, talking with the staff, connecting with the PTA and seeing if you can get on their listserv, and talking with a range of current parents. Seems like overkill from where I sit, but it's a little more sensible than getting hysterical over one person's anonymous post about their unhappiness with the school.

BTW my kids don't go to Somerset (I wish we could afford to live there) but have had a great experience at a nearby MCPS elementary.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP. Also curious: why would you buy a house specifically to send kids to Somerset? I've heard great things about Somerset but also about just about every ES in Bethesda/Chevy Chase, so just wondering why you are fixated on Somerset.

[Anonymous]

This is so making me roll my eyes. Really!

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for your replies. We decided to go for Somerset (or Bethesda Elementary) since houses in their districts are the closest to the metro and my husband needs the metro for his commute. And there was this house in Somerset that we liked.I know we are lucky to be able to purchase a house there. I sent an email to the PTA and hope to hear from them today. And yes I may sound hysterical but you know how buying a house is a big decision so we are trying to make the best decision we can! Thanks for your support

[Anonymous]

What the negative poster is complaining about is not how topics are taught but the curriculum. The teacher has to teach the curriculum. The curriculum is set by the county. Teachers have been complaing for years that it is not developmentally appropriate. I'm sure the kindergarten teacher would love to spend more time teaching how to properly write letters and numbers. If they did, however, the children would fall behind on the curriculum.

That all said, Somerset is a great school. The last principle, Laurie Gross, just retired a few months ago, which is why the school has temporary principle. I will also add that the post you found is the only negative comment I have ever heard about Somerset.

[Anonymous]

You'll love the area. Congratulations!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for your replies. We decided to go for Somerset (or Bethesda Elementary) since houses in their districts are the closest to the metro and my husband needs the metro for his commute. And there was this house in Somerset that we liked.I know we are lucky to be able to purchase a house there. I sent an email to the PTA and hope to hear from them today. And yes I may sound hysterical but you know how buying a house is a big decision so we are trying to make the best decision we can! Thanks for your support

FWIW, IMO, Somerset ES is a far stronger ES than Bethesda ES. Look at test scores. There are a higher percentage of advanced scorers on the MSA in reading and math at Somerset than at Bethesda. Also, Bethesda has overcrowding issues. Somerset does not.

That said, Bethesda is also a good school. I just think that Somerset is better. That is based on my knowledge as a longtime ChCh resident, and visits to both schools in the past few years as I was deciding where to place my children.

The PTA will not be able to comment much on pedagogy issues. PTA raises money for the school and plans school community events. They are not involved in the school education policy decisions.

[Anonymous]

OP. Somerset isn't the only school with these issues. It seems to be a MCPS problem.

[Anonymous]

After all they all end up at th same middle and high school

[Anonymous]

Somerset ES is a far stronger ES than Bethesda ES. Look at test scores. There are a higher percentage of advanced scorers on the MSA in reading and math at Somerset than at Bethesda.

If we assume that the same exact "type" of children attend Somerset and Bethesda (and, we really should assume this, looking at MCPS data, FARMS #s, and home sale prices, etc.), then doesn't this just mean that the school with the better scores is more pointedly teaching to the test?

That's what I assume when looking at a group of schools with identical student bodies.

[Anonymous]

I taught at Somerset years ago and still keep in touch with some teachers, although there has been a lot of change. Like any school, you have stellar teachers and burnt-out teachers. I feel like Somerset has more stellar teachers than burned out ones. Under the leadership of the old principal, it was a pressure cooker. And, to some extent, it still is....teachers have very high expectations for their students and it sometimes really scares parents (thinking their child is behind when they are really just fine). I know the staff loves the temp. principal and teacher moral is pretty high right now. I think something really important to know is that the teacher retention is really high (once teachers start at Somerset, they stay...which is really good for overall consistency) and the community is (although not socio-economically) ethnically/culturally mixed. I believe they have something like 80 countries represented there... I loved that as a teacher....students get to learn so much about other cultures and learn to be very accepting of differences. While there are negatives to the school, I think you can find something negative with all schools (pubilc and private) and you should feel very good about moving into the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I taught at Somerset years ago and still keep in touch with some teachers, although there has been a lot of change. Like any school, you have stellar teachers and burnt-out teachers. I feel like Somerset has more stellar teachers than burned out ones. Under the leadership of the old principal, it was a pressure cooker. And, to some extent, it still is....teachers have very high expectations for their students and it sometimes really scares parents (thinking their child is behind when they are really just fine). I know the staff loves the temp. principal and teacher moral is pretty high right now. I think something really important to know is that the teacher retention is really high (once teachers start at Somerset, they stay...which is really good for overall consistency) and the community is (although not socio-economically) ethnically/culturally mixed. I believe they have something like 80 countries represented there... I loved that as a teacher....students get to learn so much about other cultures and learn to be very accepting of differences. While there are negatives to the school, I think you can find something negative with all schools (pubilc and private) and you should feel very good about moving into the neighborhood.

New Poster and Somerset Mom here. This is a really accurate post by this teacher (at least from my viewpoint as a mom of two students there). It is a phenomenal school within a wonderful community and whatever someone may criticize it for, I have found ways far cheaper than private school tuition to make up for it. FWIW, I loved the old principal (again, from the viewpoint of a mom) and I have heard that the staff and a lot of parents really like the acting principal.

[Anonymous]

OP - I think that the negative response from that parent is over -the-top- probably untrue and you might find a bit delusional.

Don't worry about it. Sounds like they are try to spread bad rumors about the school for some other reason.

[Anonymous]

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washington-dc-suburbs-maryland/1267798-moco-schools-using-false-abuse-reports-2.html